Yes, it's Adam
by mme toffee
Summary: Everyone falls in love with Adam, and how could you not? He's charming, he's handsome, he's funny, and he's a mutant. And that doesn't become a problem until it becomes nearly impossible to fend of the hoards of girls chasing him down.
1. Chapter 1

You get used to the knocking after a while. It just becomes background noise. But every now and then, you need the background noise to stop, just for some quiet time with some pleasant non-thought. At least I do. Today was one of those days, and I had snuck away to Avery's house to find the peace and quiet, and maybe even lunch if I was cute enough. I was, and she was making sandwiches. Sandwiches.

I should explain something, the knocking (and the squealing, and the screaming, and the god-knows-what-else) was girls. Banging at my door, window, car... I couldn't get away from them. Not that I wasn't crush worthy (or so I 've been told), but I'm definitely not obsession worthy. Or so Avery says, but I think that's just because she doesn't want my ego to blow up and explode all over her cherished kitchen.

Anyway, I didn't expect them to find me here, and they didn't. It was someone else entirely. I stayed in Avery's room, then, lying on her bed with my forearm on top of my forehead. My eyes were closed, and when I heard the door's squeakier than usual hinges being pulled open by Ave, I stopped breathing for a moment. Just long enough that I could hear with perfect clarity the sound of expensive polished shoes making their way through the threshhold, pushing past Avery. I could imagine her being pushed aside, in that nervous fashion of hers. She'd be pushing her dark brown bangs out of her eyes (a habit she'd developed to deal with situations that made her uncomfortable), and futzing with the ponytail she had put her long locks in to stop them from falling in to the food she was getting ready for me. Not that I'm a beggar, but she'd insisted that I looked hungry, and I wasn't going to protest a free meal, especially from someone who used butter so liberally.

A male voice said something that I couldn't discern through the muffling of walls, stairs, and carpets that separated me from the front door. A brief reply and a high, nervous giggle trickled in to the room, followed by the sound of footsteps on stairs and carpeted hallways, progressively getting louder. There was a hard knock at the door, followed by Avery's voice calling out my name just loud enough that whoever was at the door could hear that she was checking on him.

I thought about the pros and cons of going down, and came to the considerably less risky decision of remaining completely quiet. The more risky option being jumping out of the window and running at full speed to the nearest forest, stealing an expensive car in the process and then driving it into a large body of water.

"Adam," Avery called out again, quiet this time.

"I'm sleeping," I whispered, a tad more harshly than I had intended. "I'm not feeling well."

There was a short moment, during which I expected Avery to argue with me, until I heard her sigh and walk back the way she had came. I strained my ears now, trying to listen more carefully to the conversation going on in the entry way. There was a man mumble, an Avery mumble, a man mumble, the shuffling of papers, another man mumble, an Avery mumble, and finally footsteps and the squeaking hinges of the door being pushed back in to place.

I pushed myself off the bed and looked out the window on to the empty street. Empty. That meant that the car had already pulled away. Fantastic. I walked down the stairs and hallways that led the kitchen, which is synonymous to Avery. She looked more comfortable, with her arms covered in flour up to the elbow. At least she had an air of confidence that being with people tended to strip away.

Avery continued to work as she stared up at my entrance. "Who was it?" I asked.

"He left this for you." Avery indicated, with her shoulder, the small pamflit resting on the kitchen table. I moved to pick it up, but dropped it seeing the name on the front. "He said that 'Ariel' told them about your 'problem' and that 'they'," she motioned again towards the pamphlit, "could help. Whatever that means. Can you make heads or tails of it, cause to me it's neither."

My hands shook a bit, and I helped myself into one of the chairs near me. "Am I a -?" I couldn't finish the question. If I said it out loud it would all become real. The words would probably form a monster inside my mouth that I would have to spit up and there's always the danger that I would choke on its tentacles. It just seemed safer not to say the word in every sense.

"Honey," Avery said, taking my hands in hers. They were cold, from washing off the batter, and for a moment I was distracted enough to smell the arty-clogging concoction forming on the stove. "As pretty a face as you've got, it's not that pretty." She put hand to my cheek, and gave me a warm smile. "You might want to consider what they're offering. They might be able to help."

Avery walked back over to the stove and poked at something in apot. "I don't mind you being over here, honey, but would you mind not having girls chasing after you all the time? It's just some food for thought." She put a plate down in front of him on the table. "And speaking of food for thought, here's some non-metaphorical food. I call it 'fried burger'. Enjoy."


	2. Chapter 2

"I want Reading Railroad," Avery said, looking pleased with herself.

"I'll give you both of my Utilities for Illinois, please." I tried to look as persuasive as possible. Avery's breath caught for a moment, and then she backed down.

"Fine." She handed me the pink Monopoly property card and accepted mine.

"Do you want to do something different?" I asked. We'd been playing Monopoly for nearly an hour, and after a while, it gets really boring. Our goal was to stay up until dawn, to watch the sunrise, but it was still a long two hours away. Avery nodded, yawning a bit and rubbing her eyes with teh back of her hand. She started to pack up the money, cards, and tokens, and I pulled the board off the floor and folded it. She put the top on the box, stood up, and turned to me expectantly.

"Here." She pushed the box towards me.

"Here, what?"

"Here, you have to put this back on the shelf because I'm pretty much a foot shorter than you, here."

"All right, all right." I stood up and looked down at Avery, who in turn looked up at me. A moment passed, then she quickly pushsed the box at me and walked to the window seat and curled up. "I swear to god, if you close your eyes I'm going to be really mad."

With her eyes closed, she curled her knees in and put her head down on them. She waved her arm towards me and whined, "Don't be mad. I'm tired."

"Come on, time to get up. Get up." I started pulling on her hair, in an attempt to get her to open her eyes. "Open your eyes."

"But, it feels so good."

"That's it." I put one arm under her knees and the other across her back. I picked up her light form easily and carried her out of her bedroom, down the hallway, stairs, and out the back door. Somewhere during the journey, Avery had put her arms around my neck in a half-hug. I layed her on the grass of her backyard and then sat down next to her.

"Adam?" Avery said, sitting up to look at me at eye level.

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to talk about it?" I knew immediately what she was referring to. The pamphlit that I had recieved was for _Professor Xavior's School or Gifted Children_, but everyone knew it was Mutant High, and I was so not a mutant.

"Not really."

"I do. Why won't you even consider it?" The wind blew across the lawn, moving the grass, but it was too warm of a night for the wind to make either of us cold.

"When are your parents coming home, again?" I asked, in a desperate attempt to change the subjecct.

"Wednesday. They're in Hong Kong for business. Don't distract me. What's wrong?"

So much for that plan, not that it was much of one. "I'm not a mutant, Ave. I mean, why would you even think that?"

"Adam, do you really think that it's normal for girls to behave like that. Most girls when they have a crush, even a major one, aren't that aggressive. There's got to be something else going on, and I'm thinking that it's not in the water. I'm thinking it's in the Adam." She punched my arm playfully.

"That's the stupidest thing. Why would I mutate in to a love machine?"

"Why not?" Avery countered, completely awake now. Clearly this was a topic she was interested in discussing.

"And if I really am a-" I paused, still not ready to say the word.

"Mutant?" Avery offered.

"Yeah. That." I stared at the grass.

"Come on, I'll make you a midnight snack." Avery stood up and offered Adam a hand to pull himself up.

I ignored her hand, knowing she wasn't strong enough to pull me up, and walked towards the house, Avery following. I held the door open for her, and let her walk in front of me, before closing and locking the night air out. I sat down at the kitchen table and started folding the pamflit.

"What are you in the mood for? Dessert, chocolate, sandwich?" Avery stood by an open cabinet, looking at me expectantly.

"Can you make pizza?"

"Can I? Don't doubt my mad skills." Avery closed the cabinet without removing anything and went to the refridgorator. The sound of glass and plastic and metal alll banging togethor was a soothing sound. He wondered how many girls were at his house right now, there were usually about three every night. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

After a few moments of peaceful non-talk, Avery stood still, waiting. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

Avery looked offended. "Do not use that tone with me. I know you better than you know yourself, and you cannot _ever _use that tone with me."

Knocking. More, goddamned knocking. I turned to see a girl from my English class, I think her name was Miranda, but I can't be sure, something with an M.

"Get down," Avery whispered to me, and I slipped out of my chair and under the kitchen table, out of view of the window. She opened the window, just enough to talk to the girl. "Hey, Emily." Guess it wasn't an M. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to Adam?" Her voice was bursting with excitement, not fitting the night air.

"Adam? He's not here. What about?" Avery acted as if this was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard. The thing about Avery, was that when she had to, she was the best liar there was.

"I just saw him," Emily protested, whining in the most obnoxious way. If there was ever a chance I would date her, it had just died.

"No. No, you didn't. Did you check his house?"

"Uh, no. I'll go try and find him there. Bye." Avery kept her hand on my back, probably to keep me from popping up from under the table.

Once Avery closed the window and returned to the pizza she was preparing, I crawled, rather clumsily, banging into the legs of a few chairs, back to my feet. "You," I put my hands on Ave's shoulders, "are probably the best liar I have ever seen. Did she really believe I wasn't there?"

"She was a little tentative when she was walking away, but otherwise, yeah." The oven door closed and she went to sit at the kitchen table. I pulled out the chair for her and she half-collapsed into it. "Ugh, I'm tired."

"Nope, get up. Come on. We promised that we were going on dawn patrol tonight." I shook her slightly

"Pizza in oven, take out in ten minutes, going to bed now. Good night." Avery curled up into a ball and shook her head into her knees.


	3. Chapter 3

"You fell asleep last night," I said, as Avery stumbled into the kitchen, bleary eyed and slow. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"I'm tired," Avery said, rubbing her eyes. She sat down at the table in the seat across from where I was sitting. She sat up for a moment, before collapsing face first on to the table. She mumbled in to her arms.

"What?"

Avery mumbled again.

I stood up and walked behind Avery. I shook her shoulders and then picked her up so that she was sitting. "What?"

"How are you alive? I'm _so tired_."

"I," I said, "helped myself to some coffee. Would you like a cup?"

"No. I'm good. I'm not really a coffee person. I'll wake up in a few minutes." Avery shook her head, sending her brown hair flying around her face, resting on her shoulders. I reached to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. Just as I began to pull my hand away, Avery reached up and grabbed it. She moved the back of my hand to her forehead. "Do I feel warm to you? I don't feel well."

"Yeah, wait. Come here." I pulled Avery's head forward and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"My mom always said that the best way to tell someone's temperature is with your lips, and you are definitely warm. So get back in to bed and I'll bring you up some breakfast. I can make, um, let's see. I can make toast. Possibly. And I can wash fruit and pour you a drink. That's about it. I'm sorry." Avery's the cook, not me.

Avery stood up and pulled her blanket tighter around her. "Buttered toast, orange juice and an apple. Can you handle that?" I nodded. "I'm going to go lie down in front of the TV."

* * *

Avery was shivering. She had eaten breakfast, and we had put _Star Wars: Return of the Jedi_ in the DVD player. She pulled the blanket closer around her and moved closer in to the sofa cushions.

"Do you want another blanket?"

Avery mumbled and nodded. When I came back, Avery was asleep. I tucked the second blanket around her, brushed her hair off of her face, and then sat down next to her on the couch to watch the rest of the movie. She moved occaisonally, but was pretty much soundly asleep for the next two hours.

The thing about Avery, is that she's been my best friend since junior high. She was one of the only girls that would talk to me like I was a person. And most of the other guys were jealous of me because I had half the grade fawning over me. She was ostracized purely because she was older than everyone else. Not physically older, but mentally. She was sure of herself and her interests, and I guess that made her intimidating, or just not fit in. But anyway, some how we got to talking, and it felt normal, and it was nice.

The credits rolled, and I looked over at Avery, who stirred, and then opened her eyes. "I fell asleep, didn't I?" I nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. How are you feeling?" I asked. He pulled the blankets away from her face slightly so he could see if she was still flushed. She was.

"Better. Sleep is good." Avery sat up and half crawled out from in between the two seat cushions where she had wedged herself. "Can we talk?"

"About what?" I really didn't want to talk about what I think she wanted to talk about.

"You know what. Come on, please. Consider it as an I'm-Sorry-For-Your-Poor-Diseased-Body present."

"You're good with guilt trips, you know that?" Avery looked smug for a brief moment, before coughing lightly. "Oh, I am so sorry for your poor diseased body. What do you want to talk about?" I did legitimately feel bad for her, and I wanted to cheer her up, but I really didn't want to talk about it. Or fight with her.

"Who's Ariel?" Avery asked.

"Next door neighbor. Her brother goes to Mutant High. Transferred there three or four years ago. Next question."

"Oh, don't be like that, Adam. I don't have the energy to cope with your attitude today." She did look tired.

"I'm sorry, Ave. I used to mow her lawn in the summer for a couple of bucks. That's how I got to know her."

"I think you should go talk to that Professor Xavier," she said, sincerely.

"I don't-"

"Please, Adam. For me. I worry about you. Just talk to him." Avery looked so sad and desperate, it nearly broke my heart. So, with out too much thought, I nodded. She smiled. "Thank you, Adam." She leaned against Adam's chest. "I'm going to get you sick. I'm sorry. You can go home if you want."

"You know me better than that." I pulled the blanket around her and tucked it in my putting my arm around her.

* * *

I woke up when I felt Avery wiggling out from under my arm. She was trying to be discrete about it, but it still woke me up. I didn't mind, though.

"Hey," I said, through a yawn, "how're you feeling?"

"Better." She looked better. "I'm going to get another movie. Any requests?"

"No, I'm good with anything." She walked off, leaving the blanket behind. The bounce was back in her step and she didn't look as hunched over. I was so glad to see her alive again.


End file.
